IPv6 Act Now

With only 8% of unallocated IPv4 addresses remaining, Governments are urged to take the lead in accelerating IPv6 adoption worldwide.

The Number Resource Organization (NRO), comprised of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) that oversee the allocation of all Internet number resources, announced today it is urging governments to lead by example by making IPv6 readiness their top priority. The announcement follows the publication of an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report, which found that the rate of IPv6 adoption is too slow to meet future demand for global Internet access.

The NRO is one of the key contributors to a new OECD report entitled ‘Internet Addressing: Measuring Deployment of IPv6’ , which examines the penetration of IPv6 in networks and amongst end users, as well as the number of websites currently available over IPv6.

Key findings of the report include:

• Only 5.5% of the world’s 1,800 Autonomous Systems (AS) or addressable IP networks can currently handle traffic over IPv6.
• Countries with most IPv6 network services are Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.
• Over 90% of operating systems available for end users are IPv6 compatible, but actual uptake of IPv6 amongst end users is very low. Top countries by percentage of IPv6-capable users are: France (1%), China (0.4%), Sweden (0.1%), the Netherlands, the US and Japan (under 0.1%).
• IPv6 support by content providers and increased availability of IPv6 websites are critical incentives for end users to use IPv6. Approximately 1.45% of the world’s 1,000 most visited websites have an IPv6 site, but this percentage drops to just 0.15 amongst the top one million websites.
• Approximately 23% of Internet eXchange Points (77 IXPs out of 338) support IPv6, up 17% since June 2008.

Axel Pawlik, chair of the NRO, comments: “By all measures, we see that IPv6 uptake has increased significantly in recent years, and it is clear that many technology manufacturers, network operators, content providers and other members of the technical community have made IPv6 deployment a priority. To date, however, overall IPv6 uptake has remained low, and the limited number of unallocated IPv4 addresses remaining will not allow us to achieve the ambitions we all hold for global Internet access. It is vital that players in both the private and public sectors understand the importance of IPv6 adoption, and the role they can play in facilitating it.”

“National governments play a hugely important role in helping to accelerate IPv6 adoption worldwide. They have to lead the way by making their own content and services available over IPv6 and encouraging IPv6 deployment efforts amongst private sector organisations.”

The NRO, alongside each individual RIR, has actively promoted IPv6 deployment for several years through grassroots activities, speaking opportunities, conferences and media outreach.

The NRO’s campaign to promote IPv6 continues to positively impact the Internet community. IPv6 allocations by the five RIRs increased by nearly 30% in 2009, as community members continued to recognise the benefits of IPv6.